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Who REALLY Built The Taj Mahal? - Page 2

© Maria Christensen

Here is where the story gets really interesting. Recent Hindu scholars claim that Shah Jahan never actually built the Taj Mahal, but merely claimed an existing structure for his own use. This structure was a Hindu temple palace dedicated to the god Shiva and the original name for it was Tejo Mahalaya. One argument in favor of this theory states that the Hindu name is much closer to the name of Taj Mahal than the accepted theory that it is a variation of Mumtaz Mahal's name. In fact, when a woman married an emperor, a new name was chosen for her and debate exists as to whether or not the name which has gone down in recorded history is even the correct one, or merely given after the fact. Other evidence has been produced, including eyewitness accounts of Englishmen in India at the time, statements that there are no construction documents as others have claimed, and that the Koran passages are etched over older Sanskrit writings. An entire book is dedicated to the historical evidence which backs up this theory, and I am not going to attempt to produce all the arguments in this article, as an on-line website by the author, Shri P. N. Oak, covers it very well here.

Suffice it to say that Shah Jahan, whether or not he actually built the Taj Mahal, certainly encouraged and patronized art and architecture and many new buildings went up at his bidding. He also felt it to be his duty to promote Islam and persecute Hindus. Many Hindu temples were destroyed during his reign.

In 1658, he was deposed by his son, Aurangzeb, and spent the next 8 years, until his death, in prison. Some say he was overthrown because he had nearly bankrupted the empire with all his lavish building ventures. Though in time, Aurangzeb would become an even harsher ruler than his father, mercilessly persecuting Hindus, overtaxing his subjects, and helping along the decline of the Mogul Empire. He threw his father into a section of Agra's Red Fort that Shah Jahan had had built, and there the former emperor had at least the consolation of a view of the Taj Mahal from his window, which would comfort him until he joined his late wife in 1666.

In an interesting side note, rumors persist that Shah Jahan had planned for a second Taj Mahal to be built across the river from the first to house his own remains after death. It was to be of black marble and a bridge across the river would connect the two. Another website, here, explains why this is an unlikely theory. It also counters the Hindu temple argument, though not in quite so thorough a fashion as could be hoped for an even debate.

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